14 Jan 2014

I'm pretty sure 'the plan' wasn't one of the original Chinese zodiac signs, but I've decided to make it mine this year. And, I'm determined to stick as close to it as possible. And it's not just my writing that I want to set out a plan for this year either, though that will be a big part of it.

I'm planning on continuing regular workouts at least three times a week. That means getting my arse out of bed in the morning and going to the gym before work. Tiring work, but it'll be worth it in the end. I've been struggling to shift a bit of fat from my stomach area for the past few years, but I feel like I'm starting to make progress now.

And, of course, that leads into planning my diet. Well, it's not so much a diet as it an eating plan. No more takeaways for this author, except on special occasions (because everyone should be allowed to cheat once in a while). I'm going to really cut down on my sugar and saturated fat intake and see if I can't shake this last bit of fat.

Then there's my writing. I've scribbled down my plan onto my whiteboard and added provisional deadlines for each piece. You can see what I've scheduled in the pic to the right, and holy crap just looking at it makes me wonder how in the actual hell I'm going to manage all that. But you know what? I'm damn well going to do it! When you think about it, it's less than 1200 words a day. Totally manageable.

I've got Slasherazzi lined up and almost ready for submission for the end of this month. Daeva 3 is lined up for publication later this year. Other than that, I probably won't submit any other stories. I'm going to focus on completing first drafts for several books before I think of publishing anything else. Two reasons for this. One, I want to have more regular releases, and having a stock of completed first drafts will help with that. Two, you might notice but I have a longer series planned this year. So far I have a very basic outline for ten books for it, and I have a feeling a couple more might be added. I'd like to get well ahead in writing this series before the first book even gets submitted.

Anyway, that's the titles I have lined up for this year. Some of you may be wondering what they're all about, so I've included a bit more information below about what you can expect.

Daeva 3 (Return of Darkness)
Mik and Ash return for the final installment of the Daeva trilogy. An old evil has returned with the intention of wiping out the vampire racefor good; something our heroes had wanted themselves in the not-so-distant past.

Slasherazzi
Detective Alex Beckman is having trouble balancing his work and personal life as he struggles to patch things up with his boyfriend, Vince, and catch a serial killer who likes to torture his victims and mutilate their genitals before killing them.Static
Some of you may know this one as The Back Door. Set in a futuristic dystopian world, Jason struggles to survive as a hacker, fighting against the authoritarian rule of The Accord. But during his search for Static, an elusive hero of the people and thorn in the side of the government, Jason finds something else he'd desperately been searching for.

Naga (working title: Halcyon series)
The Naga are a race of amphibious shapeshifters who dwell at the bottom of the ocean. Ryan was exiled from his race ten years ago and has since managed to forge a life on land. But one chance encounter with a man whom he saves will set off a chain reaction of events that drag him into the supernatural world of vampires, witches and werewolves, and eventually back to his home city of Halcyon.

Cold Space
A malfunction in the cryostasis chamber during a deep-space voyage leaves Jarrett alone on a ship with only the ship's AI for company-an AI created by downloading the mind of a comatose man into the ship's computer system. But what happens when these two men start to develop feelings for each other?

It's going to be a very busy year as you can see, so feel free to cheer me on. Anyone else got any goals for this year you don't mind sharing?

1 comments:

Go, Daniel! Looks like you definitely have a productive year ahead! I'm hoping to make some changes this year - time to move on for at least one thing - and will be planning and acting to do that very shortly.